Investigation of apoptotic events at molecular level induced by SERS guided targeted theranostic nanoprobe

Nanoscale. 2016 Jun 2;8(22):11392-7. doi: 10.1039/c6nr03385g.

Abstract

Herein, we have examined distinctive structural and functional variations of cellular components during apoptotic cell death induced by a targeted theranostic nanoprobe, MMP-SQ@GNR@LAH-DOX, which acted as a SERS "on/off" probe in the presence of a MMP protease and executed synergistic photothermal chemotherapy, as reflected by the SERS fingerprinting, corresponding to the phosphodiester backbone of DNA.